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nishes. I’m Tabatha. How can I help you today?” She’s an older woman with fine, silky brown hair down to her waist. Her big brown eyes are kind, and her smile is welcoming. Although she’s at least five inches taller than me she doesn’t intimidate, even in her black Prada silk sheath dress.
“I’m in definite need of help. I have a kitchen to shop for.” I offer up the list from Ray because he included dimensions for the flooring and countertops. “I also will eventually need to do several bathrooms, but this is needed this week.”
She takes the list. “Let’s start with the floors. Do you have some ideas?”
I nod. “It’s a historic home, built in 1902, and I want to capture that feeling. No stainless steel anywhere, clean, simple lines. We discussed that for the countertops butcher block then marble on the island.”
“Hmm, butcher block.” It’s a murmur. Swallowing a smile, I have a feeling Tabatha will talk me into something else. “For the flooring in the kitchen, are you thinking wood or some other material?”
“Wood to match the floors.” I show her some pictures.
“We have this or we have some reclaimed from other homes.”
“I love the idea of reclaimed, but Enzo is such a snob I know he’ll hate the idea, so this in the kitchen, half bath, and basement.”
Nodding, she makes a note. “So you don’t want this for the sunroom?”
“No, I’m looking for something different for the sunroom.” I show her more pictures.
“We got this in recently, these are tiles that look like hardwood.”
“This is great. I like this one though, over that one. This color is darker but I like it. What is this material?”
“It’s limestone.”
“Oh, that’s perfect, the house is gray limestone. I want this to go into the sunroom.”
She nods then makes a few notes on the printout. “As far as the backsplash, what were you thinking? What kind of cabinets are you going to have?”
I follow her into the kitchen area. “We were wanting to keep it simple, white with glass on the uppers. Then white on the bottom. Those are going to be custom made. I’ve liked the look of subway tile as the backsplash but Enzo thought it was a little boring; at the same time, he doesn’t want anything flashy.”
“Ah, people have this concern often.” She pulls out subway tile then opens a drawer with smaller sheets of tile, one in black hexagon, another of mother of pearl in subway tile. “Or there’s also this large hexagon tile in white that will make it easier to do small spots of color of the black hexagon. The tile is all porcelain so it’s all easy to clean. Except the mother of pearl, you can do these either in a line across the back or as small squares of interest.”
She’s patient as I take my time, changing out one for the other “I like the subway tile with the black hexagon for interest.”
Nodding, she writes it down. “Have you looked at sinks? These are new for us, Mr. Sabatini just added these in a few weeks ago.”
“Sabatini?” She hesitates, as if wondering if she’s said too much. “I’m confused, because I work for Dante and Cesare Sabatini and this house is Enzo Sabatini’s.”
“Ah, this Sabatini is Dominic Sabatini. Mr. Sabatini has a varied number of business interests. He and his father have invested in over a hundred homes from Lincoln Park to Uptown and over to Wrigley Park. Mr. Sabatini wasn’t finding the finishes he wanted, so he started importing them himself.”
“I had no idea.”
“He doesn’t advertise.”
There is another half of the building through large swinging doors where the noise of several men is muted. “It appears he doesn’t need to.”
She smiles. “No, even with people only being accepted by referral, we are quite busy. Which is why when Mr. Sabatini called to say you were on your way and I needed to drop what I was doing to help you, I should have known there was a reason for it.”
The next hour flies by. Tabatha isn’t able to talk me out of the butcher block even when I find it costs more than granite. The Carrara marble is so beautiful I almost go with it on all the countertops, until I remember Enzo’s complaints about taking care of marble. I wish Enzo was here and we were doing this together. It feels wrong, without him here.
Just as I think we’re done, I catch sight of a huge range stove. “What is that?” There are eight burners on top; however, two of the burners could be covered with a grill or a flat surface. There is a large oven then a smaller half oven to the side of it. I want it desperately.
“I knew you had good taste. It’s a Hallman range they are made to order in Italy. This was supposed to go in the latest home Mr. Sabatini was flipping; however, it’s been purchased before it’s even finished, so he decided to keep it. I think he would love for you to have it.”
“I don’t even care that there is nothing cobalt blue or gold in the kitchen this goes with.”
Tabatha’s laugh is husky, it fits her. “This is a statement piece, it doesn’t have to match anything in the room. Why don’t you get it in place and live with it a bit. If finishes need to be changed, you can do that.”
